In my Soggy July Garden

So far July has given us a bit of rain. Nowhere near as much as we need, but even a little rain helps me feel less nervous about the possibilities of summer fires on our Island. The lawn is a parched mess, but I have been able to keep most all the perennials green with hand watering and sometimes even with the sprinkler. The kids (grown now) scold me for this waste of water. The garden is my only vise(!) and so I continue to water when necessary. Intellectually I agree with them, but emotionally? No.

This rain of ours has been mostly gentle, not the kind that brings tree damage or hail. This is how it looked at the front of our house.

Beware of slippery steps!

The Hostas have begun blooming and the bees are enjoying them. There are both mini and giant versions.

Tiny but many blooms

Giant sized Hosta

There is no shortage of lush green after these showers. Some perennials are forming buds, while othe plants have been weighted down by water and are leaning against neighbouring plants.

Lavender flopped down onto Agastache rupestris

Lady’s Mantle blooms also lean over but the drops on the foliage always charm me.

Kirengeshoma palmata has increased a great deal in size and is forming buds now.

I love the the fat little buds and tall black stems of Anemonopsis machrophyllum

Senecio angel wings has returned for her second year. Her leaves have only now begun growing back.

Sharing some of the many wonderful clematis in bloom now.

Clematis x triternata ‘Rubromarginata’

Clematis Juuli

Clematis Mikelite with Hydrangea

Clematis Yukikomachi

The reverse view of Clematis Huldine

Ending on a note of mystery… No name.

*****

Early July, 2019

I have discovered that it was November 2018 when I last wrote on this blog. Rest assured, I stopped for a reason, but not because I wanted to. I was fully occupied with my husband’s health and care. He passed away in mid April. It is taking me a long time to relearn how to use Word Press, so bear with me. I am also learning about house upkeep, things such as gas leaks, malfunctioning wells, faulty windows in need of repair, and even small scale roof repairs.
I have been surrounded by visiting friends, taxes, paper work and banking. Best of all it was spring in the garden and although the weather has been strange with both rain and drought, it always thrills me to see plants emerge, especially my clematis. So now it is time to move on and enjoy my solitude…as well as a few activities unrelated to workmen!.

Clematis Tentel

I have switched to my husband’s computer and am doing OK with that. I also am using his cell phone as my camera mostly, and it is a tough learning curve for me with many apps added by my son. He has added many usefull gadgets to monitor electrical usage of all my appliances. He also exchanged every light bulb in the house to LEDs, so now, at great expense, I should soon see savings! LOL! Perhaps I’ll have a heat pump before winter.

The dog has a twice a week date to go walking with 4-5 other dogs for a morning hike. She comes back happy but tired. It is good for her to get out and socialize.

I am enjoying a few changes in the garden, removing some awkward trees and expanding a shade garden. Our drought has created a very dry brown lawn, but dispite the well problems, I have managed to keep perennials mostly alive.
I will share a few photos below, but in no particular order.

Expanding the shade garden

A visitor meets Sasquatch with my granddaughter

Two young ladies (9 and 10) whose mothers were friends when they were the same age! These are our grandchildren meeting for the first time. ❤️ Their days were filled with giggles, collecting stones and shells, looking for crabs and jellyfish, spotting humpback whales, deer and a seal, playing with walky-talkies, doing cartwheels, building towers and geometric shapes with magnets and rods, and eating ice cream…

Clematis Mikelite with Hydrangea

Clematis Pagoda

*****

This Week on the Island.

We had a long power outage the other day followed by plumbing woes. Fortunately our son was visiting and he was a big help. The problem began around midnight when a transformer exploded in front of our daughter’s home. We arrived the next day just as about 15 trucks came to repair things, installing new poles and cutting down offending trees in the roadway. The kids loved the excitement.

The trucks arrive….

Watching from a distance….

We then went walking on their new property to see it in more detail. We inspected trails, the pond, huge old trees and more.

Some of the gang…

Old house and equipment…

Wonderful tree…but the old treehouse must go.

Exploring the path to the back of the property.

Back at our place, we found a downed tree (once again!) which landed on the deer fencing which then needed fixing. We saved one branch with pretty fungus attached to it.

Every year we need to work on the deer fencing…

That’s it for today!

Early December in the Garden

 

December grasses

 

Clematis in December

 

Mushrooms in early December

 

A December Rhododendron

 

A December fern

*****

What have you been up to in your garden? Come share with us here:

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

December 4, 2018

 

We have had a nasty time of things with Ric hospitalized and me needing to share his room for well over a week. The food was….you can guess.
We were in a scary place and are working our way out.
Ric was hospitalized and I was with him, being the only one to calm him. He weighed 132 pounds and blood pressure was low, as in 81/47.
He also has a “sliding hernia”…which you can read about if that sort of thing interests you.
Sarah (our daughter) & her husband Wayne are our heroes.
We are working with medical marijuana of various kinds to get him through terrible nights. I can’t keep up with emailing right now, but special thanks for caring and I’ll let you know details when I can. Likely after an appointment in Vancouver on the 11th….or even a week or so later once we find Parkinson’s disease results. . I am hanging on and have care all around.
Also Adam (our son) kept in touch from Haiti and is now in Boston and in touch.

Six on Saturday: November 17, 2018

And here we are in mid November, with Christmas featured in every store. This  has been a tough year for us and I am looking ahead to 2019! In fact, I am already eager to see the bulbs I planted. I just read that Buchart Gardens here in BC planted 300,000 bulbs this October. Imagine!

1. This is a Cotoneaster tree which we nearly removed when we first bought the property. So happy to still have it now!

 

2. The ferns manage to enhance this place even though some are turning brown at this time.

 

3.  A few of our Hellebores are in bloom.

 

4. This white heather is just beginning to bloom.

 

5. I fear this could be the last sunny day for a long while. I hope not of course!

 

6. Yesterday was the very last cleanup. I cut back the Amsonias which looked mighty messy.

I also wrapped a fragile Clematis in its teepee for the winter. The cold nights have begun.

*****

What have you been up to in your garden? Come share with us here:

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

Six on Saturday: November 10, 2018

One needs to look carefully these days to find six garden items to share…

1. The fallen leaves…

 

2. The last oakleaf Hydrangea bloom

 

3. Seeds…

Japanesae Silverbell

Phlomis seeds

 

4. Rain on grasses (Panicum virgatum Cheyenne Sky)

 

5. More mushrooms…

 

6. Time to turn off the water from inside our shop….

*****

Come share your end of season garden activities with us!

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

Six on Saturday: November 3, 2018

An incredibly tough and busy week….with a time change at the end! But this is the part that helps me survive it all!

1.The garden is mostly cleaned up, but a few flowers remain that I just can’t cut back yet!
Here are some late blooming asters and the white fall Anemones.

 

2. A kind friend came by last Saturday and spent a long time helping me clean up leaves and organize the compost bins.

 

3. Many pots will live outdoors under the eaves where they remain somewhat protected from the elements. Spring bulbs are planted in a few of these.

 

4. The berries on the Disporum cantonense ‘Night Heron’ are hard to capture in photos. (for me!) The foliage still looks great these days, so I think I’ll cut it back in early spring. The dark new foliage is wonderful to see.

5. It is quite wet these days, but even so, some colour remains.

Yes, green is a colour too!

 

6. More stuff: If there are any more dry days, there’s plenty of mulch left to spread around.

We have had another dead tree cut down too.

and the edging is mostly completed.

PS: The Ginkgo tree…..where will it be come Saturday? Here’s how it looked on Wednesday. In Nigeria they say “Who knows tomorrow?” In just one day, all the leaves usually fall at once.

 

*****

Come share your end of season garden activities with us!

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

 

Six on Saturday: October 27, 2018

So much beauty these days. It has been a perfect October…until the rains began this week. Of course we need rain, but the warm sunshine was such a motivator for garden cleanup! There are not that many autumn flowers, but lots of leaf color. Today there was a sweet young fawn outside our fencing. Inside, there was a yucky black slug (which I moved to the empty lot next door.) Then I planted the very last bulbs, hoping for a greater show next year.

1.

 

2. The Fuchsia Hawkshead is still in bloom too.

 

3. The Witchhazel Jelena has wonderful colour this year. The blooms begin in January and February just when you need colour most!

 

4. Amsonia hubrichtii hasn’t produced the amazing golden colour I was familiar with in Ontario. Still it is soft and lovely, in spite of the rain. I’m told I should prune these after their blooms are gone.

 

5. The mushroom season has been remarkable!

 

6. I need to do just a few more things before I give up: check the compost bins, rake leaves, get the hoses put away, clean up some tools too… Work on the plant lights as well. Tomorrow….

*****

Join all of us now: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/

Six on Saturday: October 20, 2018

The neighbourhood seems alive with pre-winter tasks. A huge tree was removed from next to a neighbour’s house. It took hours to complete that task. Another tree person removed holly trees from our place. Later on, he returned with more wood chips for mulch! Our son-in-law repaired our gate, a job that wasn’t even on our list, though it makes a big difference. A friend repaired our hand railing next to the front steps and the plumber also came and did some fine work on our floor heating pipes. None of this was glamorous stuff, but Oh so nice to have done!

Now on to my six.

1. The bulbs of course had trouble arriving on time, but Canada Post eventually delivered them just one day late. Friday (today) may be the day for planting. I hope so! About 75 bulbs should not take forever. So much on my list to do though.Well, I only got a few planted today, the Muscari ‘grape ice’ and the Leucojum autumnale ‘September Snow’.  I had to run errands in the afternoon and somehow more Meleagris lilies and several Dodecatheon “Aphrodite’ returned home with me.

 

2. We have some wonderful Autumn colour still.

Even a Hellebore is blooming!

 

3. I enjoy the yellows in particular: the Corylopsis, Sedum Angelina. Later the Ginkgo will be yellow as well.

 

4. Here you can see the hostas collapsing and the Clematis seedheads ripening..

 

5. Many pots have moved into the shop and more hoses need to be put away.

 

6. I try to give DH an outing every day or two when he is feeling up to it. We went to see April Point the other day, not far from our home. There we saw a large mine sweeper from 1942 being upgraded.  The boat will be made for a tourist business. It seems that out of some 4,000 of these, only 4 remain. It was a lovely day for the three of them to be working on it. There were only a couple of other boats around, also a dog and a blue heron.

*****
Do come join us here: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/